The Inescapable Dragon vs The Unyielding Bakunawa
by Foxtronic
Summary: Skull is a ghost after that, appearing and disappearing at random all over the world. Always minutes and feet away from them before he's gone again. Skull is very obviously running from them. It's too bad that Reborn is unrelenting.
1. He is Devastation

"Go."

Skulls voice was completely devoid of its usual whining, If Reborn didn't know that was Skull, if they haven't been on the run together for weeks, he would swear a Mist had somehow infiltrated them and that Skull needed saving.

Now.

Because that was not a tone he had ever heard the Cloud user take. It couldn't be Skull standing yards behind them, not now. Not when they were all running for their lives and the lives of their Families. Skull, despite what Reborn had always said was not that much of an idiot.

But that was _Skull_ , and if he wasn't playing The Fool, then what the fuck could he possibly be doing?!

"Lackey, we need to leave. Now. Don't think I won't leave you here."

Had he ever sounded so commanding before? So completely without feeling? But Skull needed to get back to them, because if Skull was that far away then Reborn couldn't grab him when he inevitably messed something up. It wasn't because he was getting a bad feeling from all of this, he didn't _care_ about the idiot. But now with everyone being hunted they couldn't afford any screw ups.

But Skull…

Skull was rapidly showing why he was part of the Strongest Seven of this Generation. Purple Cloud Flames were starting to fill the clearing, they were bellowing out like he had never seen before, drifting as far as the eye could see. They were calling more and more attention to where they were. It was deliberate.  
Almost Challenging.

It was complete suicide.

"Your right, Senpai." He did not like this, he did not like this at all. "You need to leave."

This stupid, foolish _child_ was going to get them all killed.

"Skull. Come, _here_. **Now**." His voice wasn't shaking. And that wasn't Colonello's hand creasing the back of his suit. And Skull was not doing this.

"Can't do that, Senpai." Skulls Flame Clouds were so thick in the air now you wouldn't be able to see the two small forms hidden behind them in the clearing. Even now he was still making more. "I _know_ you guys don't like me. I've _always_ known. It's kinda hard not to when we can't even see each other without someone getting hurt. Mostly me. " A self-deprecating laugh they could hear but not see.

But that was wrong. They didn't dislike Skull. He was just… weaker than them, and really easy to boss around.

"But I've always really looked up to you guys!" That was more like the normal Skull, but the choked off sound at the end made his nerves stand on edge. "Even though I'm weak, and useless and can't do anything right. I'm Everything you've all always said I was, but no matter _what_ , I've always, _always_ thought of you guys as my family."

Reborn couldn't move. Skull was not crying. He knew what Skull sounded like when he was crying, he'd done it enough around them all that it was practically background noise by now. And he was not useless. He was a civilian who was dragged into the Mafia for his Flames before he even knew what Flames were. They didn't mean all of that, it was just..

He had been a Civilian. The only Civilian. The only one in a group of trained killers that had no idea what was going on. So, of course, they'd picked on him, just a little. Just enough to see what he was made of. But then the missions started and he was The Liability suddenly.  
The one they had to watch over and babysit because they all had to make it back for the mission to succeed.

So they might have been a little bit resentful, but who wouldn't be in that situation? This was an adult (he was a kid around that time though, wasn't he? Reborn remembers thinking that he'd eat his hat if the Cloud was over 16) who couldn't even keep up with them but who theyhadto protect. Then the curse had happened and everyone had been so angry, so betrayed because Luce had _**known**_ and she'd done _**nothing**_ , and said _**nothing**_. It had all spilt over into violence that was typical in the Mafia, but Skull _wasn't_ Mafia so he had taken the brunt of their combined anger. Luce had died after that with Aria becoming the Sky Arcobaleno, then suddenly, and all at once, it had become habit.

To treat Skull like that. It's what they'd always done.

But Skull couldn't actually believe what they'd all said at one point or another could he? It had never gotten _that_ bad. It couldn't have. Skull was a Cvilian. Skull was the Baby of the group. The Weakest. They would have never _let_ it get that bad.

"But I can't keep up anymore. I can't run anymore, senpai. It's so freaking pathetic but this body just doesn't have the stamina you both do. I'll drop before we get to the pick up point, but I to be the reason you both die."

Before he could even so much as twitch towards the center of that twirling mass of Cloud, Leon was wrapping him in a Leon-blanket and Colonello had his arms around him, bodily lifting him away.

They were moving.

* * *

Away from the clearing.

* * *

Away from the Clouds.

* * *

Away from Skull.

* * *

 **AWAY FROM SKULL**.

* * *

Trying to rip himself away from Colonello was futile, (he tried though. With everything he had, ever scrap of Will he had ever used in summoning his Flames went into his struggles. He would kill Colonello for this. They were **NOT** leaving Skull here!) he was trapped in a flame conductive Chameleon, (he had never hated something as much as he hated Leon in that moment. Never wanted something so single mindlessly destroyed) and the sight of Skulls Cloud Flames were already fading from sight.

But he could hear the fight. Could hear yelling and the sound of tearing clothes, tearing flesh. The Octopus wasn't there. (Of course not. Skull loved that thing to a ridiculous degree, there was no way he would bring it Into a fight to the dea-) But Skulls Flames were flaring so fast and so hard that people were flying up into the air, being stabbed straight through and disintegrating. (That wasn't good. Skull hated having to kill and he'd have to deal with it once he was free of tH **iS GODDAMN CHAMELEON-** )

Then they were out of sight.

•••

Right before Tsuna kills that Bastard Byakuran, Reborn turns to look at where their missing Cloud _should_ be. The Purple Pacifier is in his pocket, still cracked despite Yuni's sacrifice earlier. What no one had known was the Sky Pacifiers ability to bring back the others was conditioned on them _wanting_ to be brought back. Yuni had tearfully explained it to them that the only reason she was alive at all was because Skull _wasn't_.

Checker Face may have cursed them but even he was not so cruel to being someone who had fulfilled their duty,(willing or not) back into the land of the living if they didn't want to return. It had spoken volumes to the Arcobaleno about Skulls mental state that he had no desire to live again after sacrificing himself.

It had hit Reborn the hardest. As the main perpetrator _(even Colonello had never done so many needlessly cruel things to him)_ against Skull whenever they met, along with calling him whenever he wanted for the most useless of things. He knew. They all knew.

So when Yuni had returned but no Skull? It had devastated him. He could not fix this.

Not in this time. Not to this Skull.

He couldn't tell him how sorry he was. How he had never seriously meant any of the things he said. That Skulls persona made him laugh when he was alone, that he thought the tricks he could do on any wheeled vehicle we're admirable. That he was slightly jealous of Skulls acting skills.

He couldn't tell him anything.

Because Skull was dead.

•••

 _So when they all wake up back in the past? It's like a know Skull's no longer dead. They can feel him in a way they never noticed before._

 _But when they storm his current base, he's gone_.

 _Skull is a ghost after that, appearing and disappearing at random all over the world. Always minutes and feet away from them before he's gone again._

 _Skull is very obviously running from them._

 _It's too bad that Reborn is **unrelenting**._

 **•••**


	2. Run Away from the Resignation

Getting ahold of the others after waking up in the ( _Past?Present?Past._ ) now, isn't hard. Finding out that, yes everyone remembers the future-that-never-was, isn't hard.

Finding where Skulls blimp should be, is slightly more difficult when they all realize they don't even know what part of the world it's supposed to be in right now.

 _(Finding Skull himself or even just getting ahold of him is turning out to be impossible. He won't answer his phone no matter how many messages they leave and they can't find him._

 _It only turns the semi-frantic, hidden searching into full blown public hunting after he fails to show at the Arcobaleno Springs when everyone is called)_

It's an uneasy feeling that hovers between them all as the weeks go by and they find nothing. Averted eyes paired with shifting, blank smiles as they wait around for a call they already know isn't coming.

The knowledge that they just don't know where Skull is, that they can't find him really sinks in, it's only when they realize Skull doesn't want to be found. That he is running from them, that things start to really get bad.

They are all uncomfortably aware of the fact that not knowing and before, not really caring where their Cloud is, was unique among the current Arcobaleno

Because the Arcobaleno always knew where the other members were. If only so as not to step on anyone toes ( _or egos_ ) accidentally.

Some are easier to find than others normally, but they all know where they're most likely to be or at least how to contact them.

Reborn and Fon are the most difficult to find on short notice, with China being such a large amount of land to look in and Reborn's inability to stay in one place for long, with all the jobs he takes.

Lal and Viper were the easiest to find with Colonello coming in a close third. Viper having accepted a long-term contract with Xanxus of the Varia and Lal March helping head the CEDEF, if you really needed to find them, you just had to show up outside the buildings.

 _(Although easiest to find, actually getting in side said buildings? Most of the time it just wasn't worth it. )_

Verde only came in fourth because he had multiple different labs to choose from, most of which he moved between frequently.

Skull though… they had known he'd made a blimp his home, no one knew what the inside looked like but they knew it existed. None if them had needed to know before, since whenever they wanted something from Skull, he was almost always waiting for them or already at wherever they needed him to be. If that didn't happen, which was rare, he wasn't exactly hard to get ahold of by phone.

But actually knowing where he was or how to find him? They just. Didn't know how. Not like they did for each other.

It was sobering to think that they actually knew very little about the Cloud they'd all fought with for over 30 years.

The Cloud that joked and laughed and cried and whined at them but never _said_ anything.

It's only now that they start to understand how very alone Skull must have been, must have felt. They didn't know his habits. Or his likes, all the little things that people know about each other, after being friends and colleagues for so long.

Like how one of Fon's favorites foods were Century Eggs even though he hated the way they smelled, or that Lal didn't wear perfume because it always gave her headaches, how Viper wouldn't charge you if you needed advice or that Verde liked being able to make things and share them, and Colonello was always happiest when he had people who weren't intimidated by his being an Arcobaleno around.

All small, little things that you pick up or learn through time by caring about someone.

But no one knew anything about Skull. Not really, not the little personal things they desperately wanted to know now.

They knew the big things, like they knew he was a coward, _( But that wasn't true. He stood face to face with the army of a Mad God, to give them time to run, what type of coward would do that?)_ they knew he didn't like being called Lackey, or Underling or Stupid,

 _(But he hadn't seriously argued against it after they'd all been cursed. He'd just stopped at some point. Stopped really arguing about anything.)_ and they knew he cried over the smallest of things.

 _(That wasn't really true either. He'd only started crying when they'd picked at him. After they'd picked and picked and picked at him until he couldn't take it anymore, until he wanted to leave but couldn't because they wouldn't let him, until he had nothing to take his emotions out on because he was weak, weak, weak and they'd told him that **constantly** -)_

But no one knew what his favorite food was, or if he even liked working for the Carcassa Famiglia, they'd all heard about Skull joining them but hadn't cared, even though they knew he didn't want to be part of the Mafia. Had he been forced into it? They just didn't know.

He'd probably have nightmares from dying. Did Skull even _have_ anyone to talk to about dying in the past/future/past? They'd never met any of his friends, if he even had friends.

They didn't know, they couldn't find him, none of their allies knew where he was, no one had seen the blimp or Oodako in weeks before they started looking, because no one had cared before.

Unfortunately for Skull's success at hiding until the him-dying-for-them-thing blew over, that's the tipping point for the rest of the Arcobaleno. It's that tiny, little bit of information that makes all the guilt and confusion they felt for the future-that-never-was come to a head.

When they realize that no one had cared where Skull was or what he was doing before they started looking, it transforms a moment of empathy for the man who saved their and Yuni's lives, who they have never treated well, into a determination to do whatever they could to help him, apologize, start over. Because even in the Mafia it's not right, it's not ok, to have no one to turn to.

They all have their separate Families and Famiglia, their own responsibilities but they were supposed to have each other first. No one can understand what an Arcobaleno goes through, better than another Arcobaleno after all.

But Skull was hiding from them.

And they don't.. really know what to do about it.

* * *

It's funny really, that It's not Reborn who is tearing the Mafia apart looking for him that finds Skull first. Or even Viper who is giving out discounts on their information like crazy, for just a hint of information about Skull's location, or Colonello who's listening obsessively to gossip on Mafia island for the slightest hint of a purple biker child, or even Fon who has the whole of the Chinese Triads on the lookout, that finds Skull first.

It's _Verde_ out on a coffee run for everyone that sees the kid wandering around the plaza he's in. The kid who's accompanied by no parent, who has perfectly none-descriptive clothes, mousy brown hair, one completely normal brown eye, and a violently purple one that looks like it's eaten the brown contact that was in it.

In that moment Verde thanks every god he's ever heard about that Skull is still an idiot who never listens to his technobabble, if a decently camouflaged one.

Because before everything else Verde is, an Arcobaleno, a Mafia Man, a modern day Leonardo da Vinci, Verde is a _scientist_. A Flame scientist yes, but a scientist all the same. One who's _told_ the idiots he works with that contacts just don't work for certain Flame types, not realistically. Storm and _Cloud_ being the hardest to manage them with.

Disintegration and Propagation respectively.

For Storms it's their bodies unconsciously burning out the 'invading' substance from their eyes. So unless a Storm was concentrating entirely on their eyes the contacts would disintegrate in moments, if not instantaneously.

For Clouds the same theory applied but had the added bonus of a Cloud having no idea it was happening, as it was happening. Since Clouds didn't normally use their Flames either unconsciously or internally (Because of how dangerous they could be to anyone, unchecked.) they could, technically, wear the contacts for any amount of time they wanted.

It was only when they used their Flames for the first time after putting the contacts in that they would unconsciously start to multiply the enzymes that protected the eyes naturally to burn out the object.

Leaving a dual colored Skull, who had one brown eye and one violet eye, both of which were staring at him with a terror he did not expect to see.

' **Shit**.'

Skull shoots out of sight seconds after Verde registers he's just close enough to grab at. Verde doesn't hesitate to take off after him phone already in his hand, coffee forgotten.

Reborn picks up moments after the call connects, but before he can say anything Verde is yelling into the receiver. It's all he can do to focus on Skull's back as they shoot past confused civilians, Verde's not made for this type of endurance but this is the closest they've been to finding Skull since they came back and he would not be losing him now.

"He's heading down Via dei Calzaiuoli street! Get! Here! Now!"

The call drops without another word. Verde knows he can't keep this type of running up and hopes like hell that Reborn makes it here in time, before they lose Skulls trail for another couple of weeks. He knows that if Reborn can just make it here fast enough they have a chance, even just a small one of keeping Skull still long enough to call the others in.

Because one thing neither Skull or Reborn have ever been able to do, is ignore each other. If Reborn's not picking on him, Skull will say something that will makeReborn notice him. If Skull was gone for long enough Reborn would call and force him to do 'errands' for him.

Verde doesn't know if either of them have ever realized just how much they've always influenced the other, intentionally or not but it's their only chance now of catching Skull before he's gone like the Clouds his Flames are named after.


	3. The Conversation is Over

Getting a call from Verde in the middle of a match with Fon was annoying. Since they'd all started to grow in fits and spurts sparing was one of the only ways to both get used to their bodies again, and try to ignore the ache that came with too quickly growing bones. Fon was his most common partner since Lal and Colonello had taken.. different measures to get through puberty once more. If his own hormones weren't on such a small trigger he'd have made fun of them for being unable to hold back for a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, he couldn't even get near them without something awkward happening. It was better for everyone if they just left those two alone.

So getting a phone call in the middle of his only spar of the day? Annoying. If this wasn't important Verde was getting some first hand experience with his own machines when he got back.

Thankfully for Verde's continued life, this was actually important. Reborn hadn't even been able to speak before Verde was yelling through the phone that he'd actually found Skull.

The call drops moments later, Reborn doesn't know if he hung up or Verde did but they had to move. Now. Skull could be slippery at the best of time. With him actually running it would be like trying to grab air with a net.

When he turns to order Fon to grab the others, the man was already hurrying towards the dojo door. "I'll find Viper first, then Lal and Colonello. Well track you through the phone and try to find Verde."

Fon turns to look at him then, it's amusing to Reborn that the Storm he's never seen as anything other then completely placid has a sharp grin on his face, one that's much more reminiscent of his nephew Kouya before a good hunt.

"You have to stall him, Reborn. I don't care how you do it. Grab him, annoy him, fight him. I don't care which, but stall him." Fon doesn't wait for a response, just leaves the room.

Hmph. Fortunately for him, Reborn was already planning to grab Skull, waiting for the others wouldn't be that much of a hardship. If they were too slow to catch up that was their problem. Reborn made his own way out from the door opposite the one Fon left through. It was closest to the street and he'd be able to take to the rooftops once he got into the open.

He knew where Via dei Calzaiuoli street was, and with the way Verde was panting they were probably taking the long way up. If Skull was smart he would try to get lost in the crush of people once they hit the main pathway with all the tourists. He was probably in disguise, if he'd been able to stay so close to one of their bases and have none of them know. It was most likely a very good disguise, one that wouldn't be easily seen through if none of them had before.

So he would have to look for Verde before he looked for Skull. It wouldn't be hard to track who Verde was tracking if they were both running through the streets like mad men.

He scanned the streets below him while he waited, all very normal so far. There was a mother with her child, a young couple being sickeningly cute, a green haired child staggering around a corner, hand wrapped around a phone.

Ah. He'd found Verde then.

A shrill shriek echoed in the air from his pocket. Slipping his hand into his slacks he answered without looking away from the streets below.

"Did anyone else know Skull knew how to do parkour?! Am I the only one who didn't know that idiot could grapple over a 7 foot shear wall!"

Skull could do that? They really didn't know anything about their Cloud, did they? In all the years they'd all been together he'd never known Skull to be able to do anything physical. (But of course he could. He's a stuntman. Why had they never realized?)

"We were running and he just grabbed something and was gone! 7 feet! Over a wall!"

From Reborn's position above Verde, he could see the Scientist was now laying on the floor, panting. People were starting to look over, worried.

If Skull had climbed up then he'd probably still be on the roofs. He couldn't have known Verde had called them yet, and with how panicked he'd be, Skull (hopefully) wouldn't be thinking straight.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Verde's voice over the receiver was shrill in a way only he and Skull could get at times.

"Not really." Reborn ignored the offended yelling coming from his phone and zeroed in on a flash of movement in the distance. A small, plain looking kid was crawling over the rooftops, he was trying to stay low to the ground but with the speed he was using it wasn't working all that well.

A sharp smirk filled his face as he watched the kid stop and rest. If Skull wasn't using his Cloud Flames, (which he couldn't because of how close they were to civilians) then he would be just as tired as Verde was.

"Gotcha."

The ranting over the phone came to an automatic halt. Before Verde could either start up again or ask if he'd found Skull, Reborn ended the call.

Now to catch him before Skull noticed he wasn't the only one using the roofs.

•••

Skull slammed back first into the wall, Reborn's hands shackled around his wrists. Goddamnit, this was not what he wanted when he'd gotten the call that Skull had been sighted. But the rush of finally seeing the other, even disguised as he was, after weeks of searching was heady.

The last glimpse he'd gotten of Skull, before everything had gone to hell had been of the idiots back, that stupidly vibrant purple hair slick with sweat from their flight away from Byakuran's army. Seeing it brown now was disconcerting in a way that raised his hackles but it was the trepidation in those eyes that almost allowed Skull the split second opening to jerk out of his hold.

But he wasn't called one of the Worlds Best for nothing, if Skull thought he'd be letting him go so soon after all the effort they put into catching him, he was delusional.

Reborn always got what he wanted.

And what he wanted right now, more than anything was answers. Answers to why Skull would die for them, why he would even care enough to die for them, why he didn't come back (where they really that terrible?) just why.

(And if he got to look into those expressive eyes, no matter that they seemed determined to challenge all of his pre-assumed thoughts and feelings, no one but him could tell. Eyes he had never realized he would miss so desperately once they were gone forever)

He had to take this cautiously, Skull was always skittish but after having been run into the ground he would be especially willing to fight back, now that he was cornered.

"Where the hell have you been?" That.. had not been what he'd planned to say. Judging by the wide eyed stillness Skull had fallen into, He hadn't been expecting it either.

"What?" Skulls voice was incredulous.

This was fine, they would start here then. Reborn dug Skulls wrists into the brick behind him, the alleyway he'd caught him in wasn't the best place for this conversation but he knew if he tried to shift them somewhere else Skull would run or some concerned bystander would wonder what the two preteens were doing. Here at least they had some small amount of privacy.

"I said." He had to be calm, he couldn't blow up at Skull. Not right now. Not ever again. "Where the hell have you been."

But Skull still looked confused, he'd stopped wiggling around thankfully, puberty had started being a bitch to all of them so it was appreciated, but instead he'd taken to glancing to the sides of both of them. For help or because he was worried about being caught Reborn couldn't tell.

"I… around? I guess?" Skulls breath caught and he squeezed in on himself when he caught Reborn's unimpressed expression. "I don't know what you want me to say!"

After that blurted out confession(?) he had to internally calm himself so that he didn't fucking smack Skull for such idiotic reasoning!

"I want you to tell me what you've been thinking running from us, Lackey!

Fuck. That's not what he meant to say either.

Now Skulls face was closing in on itself, (no no no) his shoulders were straightening and his eyes had gone from vaguely weary to pissed in seconds.

"Get. The **FUCK**. Off. Of. **ME**!" Skull shoved Reborn as hard as he could away from him, away from this tiny little ally they were in, his face a conflicting mask of anger and desperation. "I don't know why the fuck you even keep doing this!" His eyes were wild, the purple a glowing toxic color. "I'm done! I'm so fucking done! I'm done with you, I'm done with the Arcobaleno, and I'm fucking **DONE** being your punching bag!"

Skull was almost growling at him, all bristled up like a cat that had been pet against the grain. (Like something terrified, some animal trying to intimidate a bigger predator)

He could see that Skull wouldn't be backing down this time. He'd hit his edge of tolerance and Reborn had pushed him off over the side of it.

But.. Reborn couldn't fight him. Couldn't even imaginewrapping his hands around that pale neck like he would have at one point. Didn't want to paint that skin in a color that would match Skulls hair. He couldn't, wouldn'timagine it.

But what else could he do? He'd never actually talked with Skull before. All their interactions before were violent. Senpai to Lackey.

How was he supposed to do this…?


	4. Destabilization of Thought

Reborn just... stood there. Right in front of him. He hadn't reacted to Skulls push or words other than to move back a bit. The disinterested _bastard_ didn't even have the courtesy to act effected!

No, instead, The _Mighty_ Reborn, the oh so _great_ , oh so _powerful_ Reborn. Strongest Flame User in the Strongest Seven Reborn!

Friend, Tutor, Advisor to the second coming of The First Generation Vongola, the Neo Primo Vongola, Reborn!

Handsome, womanizer, hypocritical, cruel, uncaring, smug, self-righteous _asshole_ _**REBORN**_!

Had the nerve to stand in front of him, demand where he's been then act like _nothing_ when Skull had finally gotten enough courage to tell him what he'd been thinking for the last forever.

 _How dare he. How dare he._

Wasn't it enough that he'd _died_ for this dick? Why? Why was it always him?! Every time he'd tried to leave, tried to find some equilibrium in his life after being dragged into this fantasy world, the Great Reborn was there to drag him kicking and screaming back in.

Every chance at happiness he'd had, every friend he'd ever made, every person he'd ever fucked _always_ , always got lured away by the so very spectacular Reborn!

Always chasing him, always commanding him, always tugging him along like a puppet in a show.

 _Why_?!

"What. Do you want. _Reborn_." He needed to leave. He wanted to leave. But unless he found out what the others wanted now he'd have to keep hiding until they got over it. If they just told him what they wanted, he'd give it to them then hopefully they'd leave him alone again for a couple of years until they wanted something again. That was the normal pattern from… before. Skull hoped like hell the pattern would stay true.

Reborn started back at him, face frozen in ice as always. Those black eyes of his gave nothing away ( _they never had_ ) and his stupid hat was tilted rakishly to the side.

And he still refused to say _anything_.

Skull could feel his face twisting into something ugly. He hated this. He hated how all these horrible feelings would come out in the presence of this one man. How he could always stir his temper like no one else. Change his normally carefree Flames into a Maelstrom of fury.

"I'm leaving." He tried. Oh how he tried to spit that out with only spite, but he could feel the pressure building up behind his eyes, something was blocking his throat but he would _not_ cry in front of this man. Not ever again.

"No. Your really not." Reborn's voice was subdued in tone, but those words were enough to make the first few tears drip down his face.

"You can't stop me." Skull knew he wouldn't win in this confrontation but he would not go down without a fight. Not this time, not ever again. When he'd said he was done, he'd meant it.

Skull took a faltering step forward, better to get this beating over with then draw it out. It always hurt more when he tried to avoid it. But he stopped after that one step.

Because Reborn had done something _interesting_. Something that had never happened in all the years of their relationship.

He'd stepped _back_.

Skull furrowed his brows as he took another step forward. This one with slightly more confidence. What was he…?

Reborn stepped back _again_.

Skull stopped and stared at Reborn. But Reborn wasn't even looking at him anymore, now focused on the entrance of the ally way. He was still as relaxed as he'd been when he'd tackled Skull off the roof and into this ally but _something_ was different. The atmosphere had changed in some earth shaking way.

Something had shifted in Reborn.

Every time Skull got within touching distance from Reborn, he would very casually move just far enough away that he couldn't touch Skull without effort.

What had changed hit Skull with all the delicacy of a brick to the face.

 _Reborn thought he was weak._

Reborn thought he was _**weak**_. Not the weak he'd always told Skull he was, but below him weak. Reborn had watched him take on an Army and _lose_. Something that would have never happened to Reborn. He wasn't even an equal any more to him. He was lower than that. Something Reborn didn't even want to _touch_ anymore.

"You... _**You bastard**_! Skull lunged at him, relishing in the muted confusion that covered Reborn's face for a split second before the emotion was covered again. But it wasn't enough. _How dare he. How dare he!_

The first punch went to high, Reborn having dodged down under it. He came at Skull with a hand of his own but stopped just before connecting. All this did was piss Skull off more.

' _I can't even take a punch now?! I'll show you! I'll show all of you! How dare you, how dare you!'_

But no matter what he did, how he came at him. Reborn just kept dodging. Over and over he'd dodge _just out of range_ of Skulls suddenly Flame infused punches. No matter what he screamed at him, what he tried Reborn just wouldn't hit back.

He hated this man. He _hated_ him more than he'd ever hated anyone ever before.

He wasn't _**weak**_!

He'd _died_ for him! Died for them _all_! Gotten ripped apart by his own Flames in the end, a last kamikaze attack to take out as much as he could, buy enough time for the others to get away, find Tsuna, find Yuni.

Take down the man who was trying to end the world. He'd even refused to come back when Yuni's Sky Flames had called to him. She was so young, she'd never deserved any of this, her or her mother. She was the others _Sky_ , ( _even if she'd never became his_ ) he couldn't take that away from them.

And this was all he had to show for it. The man who'd tormented his life from the moment they'd met, refusing to give him even this small amount of acknowledgement.

That little bit that says, 'I see you.'

He hated him.

 _(He wondered though. If he hated Reborn, why did this hurt so very much?)_


	5. Disintegration At Last

It took time but Skull, when not energized by his own Cloud Flames, had to stop. His stamina wasn't the greatest ( _no shit that's why you died remember?)_ without his Flames and surrounded by buildings and Civilians who had no idea about Flames wasn't the greatest place to have a one-sided street fight against the Mafia's version of a 007. Training and all. Ugh.

Panting Skull glared up at the annoyingly neutral expression on Reborn's face. He was still pissed. Honestly, he was always pissed now a days. When he wasn't scared out of his mind at everyone looking for him, the rage grew and grew. It was a horrible feeling, like acid and rot eating up his insides but he didn't have anything else to fight against it with. He couldn't rest with everyone chasing him, couldn't breath with the cage bars creeping in.

All because of this fucking man.

"Why can't you ever just do what I want?! Why do you _always_ have to do the exact opposite? Is it like, a thing with you? 'Fuck! Skull wants me to do this so I _have_ to do this instead!' Is that what it is?!" He snipped acidicly.

"What do you want me to do then?" Reborn's voice was quiet compared to all the shouting that they'd done. Skull had done.

"I want you to leave me alone! Just-!" He couldn't keep this up. It was so _hard_ trying to get through to him. Why couldn't he just go?

"All I want is for you all to just.. leave me alone. Forget I ever existed. Stop hurting me, stop talking to me, just stop everything." Skulls voice was harsh. Caught somewhere between bitter hope and hurt agony.

Reborn shifted on his feet, one of his hands which he'd had in his slacks pocket rose up to tilt that prized fedora down over his eyes. Skull had a disappointing realization that he knew what Reborn was going to say before it ever left his mouth.

"I _can't_ , Skull." Reborn's voice was quiet. Toneless. He wouldn't look at him anymore but he had no problem sending that crushing feeling back down between them.

Skull hunched down from where he'd been thrown earlier. He was already so close to his knees anyways what did it matter if he shoved his face into them? What did he care what Reborn thought anymore?

" _Why_?"

He couldn't see anything but he could still hear the shifting of cloth. The crackling of bone popping when moved unexpectedly. He'd normally be more weary about giving Reborn even more opportunity to attack him but what was the point? The man already thought he was too weak to fight with.

"I don't know." His voice was _way to close_!

Before Skull could think about anything other than the terror that rocketed through him at the thought of not being able to see Reborn and him being _that close_ he'd skirted/crawled sideways down the wall he'd been leaning against. He hadn't meant to, it hadn't been a conscious thought. He'd just done it. He'd heard Reborn close to him ( _to close!_ ) had almost felt the Heat the Sun radiated when he wasn't careful and had acted on base instinct.

All that'd ran through his mind had been fear.

He needed to move. Now. If Reborn had decided to pay him back for attacking him earlier he'd need to find a way out of this ally. It was a small space, Civilians were everywhere around them and he didn't know where Leon was but-

...but Reborn was still crouched where Skull had just been. He had one of his hands raised, not in a fist but held out. Like he'd been about to touch him. He wasn't looking at where Skull he gone though. He was staring at the patch of brick with a look on his face that Skull couldn't understand, couldn't name. The emotions that the normally cold man was _actually_ , unconsciously displaying were strange. But it was Reborn's eyes that truly scared him. He'd never seen that look before. Not in person.

It would be cheap to say that look in Reborn's black eyes was devastated. But he didn't know how else to categorize it. He looked as if someone had pulled a sheet off of some excruciatingly painful hidden truth. Like someone had taken everything he'd ever loved and _burned it all to ash_ in front of him. If Skull didn't know Leon probably wasn't here, he'd fear for whoever had hurt the creature just now.

Reborn cared for _very_ few things in his life, _truly_ cared. Everyone knew that. But the things he did care for he protected _viciously_. With Tsuna being safely entombed behind dozens of Flame Actives that would go to war for the kid if he so much as sneezed, Dino off in London with a full assortment of his own mini army, Leon ( _probably_ ) not even _here_ and the Arcobaleno all living together, ( _A small part of him actually, kinda, reeeeally wants to know how that's going. Having them all in one house had to be terrifying. Lal and Colonello by themselve right now would be….)_ also hopefully **_not here_**. Skull had no idea what could have put that look on Reborn's face. Not in this situation.

It was Reborn punching at the brick, breaking it _barehanded_ that jolted Skull from his wandering thoughts.

* * *

He couldn't stop hitting the brick. Blood was running down his knuckles from the tron flesh but he couldn't stop.

Skull had ran from him.

Not because he'd chased him or smacked him. Not because he was startled or surprised. It had been the twitch of instinctive fear. Reborn was a _teacher_. He knew how to read body language, knew what his students were thinking before they did most of the time and everything about what just happened hadn't had any thought at all.

Skull had heard Reborn's voice close to his unprotected neck and he'd reacted. That his first reaction had been to flee wasn't any fault but Reborn's own. He _knew_ that. He _knew_ that. He _knew_ he'd never treated Skull right, he _knew_ that he'd never talked to Skull the way he had the others, he _knew_ he'd never protected him when he could have, should have.

But it hurt.

Skull was one of his. Even when he'd been nothing but a noisy kid they had to drag along with them, he'd been his. Like the Others were, like Leon was, like Tsuna was. He wouldn't- Skull should have known _instinctively_ that Reborn wouldn't attack him when he was at his most broken. It shouldn't have been something he'd have to think about. He was a Sun. At his core he protected. He taught. It was the _entire reason_ he'd decided to teach his kids.

That Skull didn't think he was one of the few that Reborn would protect with everything he had tore at a place almost no one ever got to see.

 _And it was nothing but his own fucking fault_.

He couldn't do this. He didn't think-

"What? Dude, listen, I honestly don't know what that was about but I can _almost_ see your knuckle bone. Bones? Whatever." Skulls voice was frantic. "You really should heal that and maybe? Not? Punch the wall? Anymore?"

This kid..

"Like, I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything but that didn't seem like a great idea?" His voice was coming even closer. Hovering above his head like a nightmare he could never fully shake.

But Reborn couldn't do this. Not right now, not after fully realizing the depth that he's failed. One of his own _isn't_ his own, not the way he should be. Not the way the _thought_ he was. This is entirely in him and Reborn knows himself well enough that if he can't get Skull away, get him out before the explosion. He'll end up doing something they'd both regret.

"Come on man, just- " Cold, pale child-like hands gripped his wrist lightly. Ready to jerk back at the slightest hint of resistance. Not that Reborn planned to resist. He didn't even know if he'd be able to. Not after everything.

He couldn't look up at the worried face, didn't want to see the concerned eyes. Not yet. But he couldn't ignore Skulls voice.

"I know you don't like people touching you first, and believe me I understand exactly how that feels but.." Skulls voice trailed off.

"But?" He questioned after a beat to long of silence.

"But this looks really serious, man. I can't get hurt, not like this anyways. But the pains gotta be crap." Skull continued quietly.

"Not any worse than dying to your own Flames." Why couldn't he control himself? This wasn't the time to bring up the _Future-That-Never-Was_ , not now, not with Skull still so skittish.

" _I don't want to talk about it_!" Skull snapped out. His hand tightened against Reborn's wrist harshly, and if Reborn was any other man he would have cried out at the pain of straining bone and pulling flesh. But he wasn't and this was nothing compared to the weeks before Verde had found Skull. It would take a lot more for him to jerk away then physical pain.

"I know you don't. But I do." But since they were already on the topic…

Skulls voice was closer to a snarl then any type of actual emotion when he replied. "And the Mighty _**Reborn**_ always gets what he wants, doesn't he?"

Reborn didn't flinch but it was a near thing. He didn't understand but whatever that was about, those words sounded too… strong to be anything Skull thought up in the heat of the moment. It sounded like something the Cloud had told himself so many times actually saying it out loud added a weight that sat _uncomfortably_ in his chest.

He couldn't.. what was he supposed to say to that? Yes he did always get what he wanted? Even with how emotional this entire situation was making him he wasn't compromised enough to _not_ realize that would be the wrong answer.

He couldn't say no for the exact same reason. It was a blatant lie, one Skull knew wasn't true. Lying straight to the face of a Cloud ( _even one like Skull_ ) was just asking to get chased down. Clouds could be relentless when enraged and lying to one when it knew you were lying? Suicide.

He had no answer. Didn't even know if there was a correct answer. But Skull was pulling away slowly, the flash fire rage from before returning to his eyes and Reborn had to stop this.

"I don't know what to say." His voice was harsh in its honestly. Raw in a way that made him very uncomfortable.

"What?" Skull had stopped moving away in his confusion. The mad light in his eyes banking slightly.

"I just don't know." Reborn went silent for a moment then continued frustration radiating out of his voice. "I don't know what you want me to say. I can't say yes because something about it would set you off, but I can't say no because we both know that's a lie. I do always get what I want. You know that. I know that. Hell the Mafia World in general knows that. But I need you here, even though I don't have an answer you'll accept. So I don't know what you want me to say."

Skulls own voice cut with a precision Reborn did know he had in him, "I don't _want_ you to say _anything_. I want you to leave me alone, but you won't accept that will you? You can't. Because for once in your life something you want, something you feel your owed doesn't want you. Doesn't want you near them, doesn't want to use you, or hear hear you. All they want, all _**I**_ want is to be left alone, and you can't stand it. Can't stand someone wanting nothing to do with you." Skull snached his hand away from Reborn's healed one after that tearing down. He stood from his hovering, the toxic fire flaring to life inside his eyes again.

For Reborn the pain of hearing what he knew to be both true and untrue flared hot inside his chest, followed quickly by outrage. How dare this fucking kid, who he'd protected for _years_ ever talk to him like that. _He was going to kill him, rip him apart and swallow the pieces._

"Just like you can't stand to be ignored right, _Skull-Sama_? That _is_ your name right? The one _we_ gave you after everyone else died? Because of _you_?" Reborn rose swiftly from his place hunched against the wall. Turning he faced Skull, harshly delighted at the fear he could see at the back of those purple eyes.

"Tell me. How _is_ your little gang of orphans doing? Are they still at the safe house _we_ set up after you begged us?" His voice was mocking when it continued, " _Oh pleeeeeease Reborn-Senpai I don't know what to do! These kids they don't have anything! Oh please help me~!"_

Skull took a stumbling step back away from Reborn, the fear in his eyes growing desperate. Reborn stepped after him, a towering shadow full of grinning teeth designed to hurt.

"Do you want me to tell you how many people I've had to kill to keep your little rat pack safe? How many unpaid jobs I've taken just because you can't do _anything_ right?"  
With every world Reborn took a step closer until he was right in Skulls face, one hand around his neck, the other petting his hair gently.

"Can't keep a Territory safe, can't be a Proper Cloud, can't even _Harmonize_ with the strongest Sky in the world. Can't even stay dead. Tell me, _Skull_. What exactly can you do?" Reborn's voice was cruel. As cruel as he'd ever been in 30 years. Ever word designed to hurt, to tear all that hidden pain out into the light. _Reborn wanted **everything** of him. His tears, his cries, his attention, his loyalty._

"I died for you."

The world seemed to pause around the two men. Reborn stood frozen, hand squeezing around that pale neck. ( _what? no he hadn't wanted that_ ) Bruises already starting to stain.

Skulls eyes no longer held the fear they had before. He looked like a doll, worn out and empty. His mouth was completely neutral, skin pale except for that purple necklace. Reborn couldn't move. Couldn't pull his hand away.

"I died for you. And I didn't come back. What more could you want?" Skulls voice was completely empty of emotion. No fear, no rage, nothing. ( _Reborn desperately wanted that rage back. Anything, anything was better than this)_

A soft touch against his chest had him reflexively looking down. It was one of Skulls small hands pushing him gently away. Adrenaline burst through him at the slight and he didn't know why. But something about it seemed final. He couldn't move as that hand pushed him far enough away that his own slipped from Skulls throat, far enough away Skull could slip away from his body. Could start walking to the edge of the ally.

Why couldn't he move? Skull was leaving and this wasn't what he wanted. None of this. Not the fight or the word or the fucking _bruises_. This wasn't the end, couldn't be the end. Not for them. Not after everything.

But his mouth wasn't working and he couldn't move, his legs felt like jelly and his heart was beating so fast if he'd been physically older he'd be worried about having a heart attack.

Skull was gone.

 _Again_.

* * *

It's Fon that finds him what seems like seconds later. He's not breathing heavily but he obviously looks excited when he drops down in front of Reborn.

"So? Where is he, my friend? I'm assuming you've lost him but he couldn't have gotten far!" Fons voice is giddy in a way it almost never is.

He hates having to disappoint him. ( _What's the difference? You've already done it to Skull. What's one more of your own?)_

"Leave him be, Fon." His voice sounds blank _(But not as empty as Skulls had)_ but he doesn't feel like trying to fix it right then. "We got into an argument."

"Reborn. I told you to stall him not run him off." Fon's voice was soft in fond expectation.

But he had to know what had happened. What Reborn had said, even if he didn't know how very wrong it had all somehow gotten so quickly. Didn't know how close Reborn was to breaking down completely and destroying this entire city, himself included, Vindic be _damned_.

Fon had to know so why was he poised over him? Why was he guarding him from the the entrance of the ally. Making sure no one could see in? Why was Viper wrapping them in a time bubble? Why was Colonello sitting beside him, not touching but there? Why was Verde in the ally at all, why was Lal talking about where Skull would go next but not leaving.

Why were they here at all after what he'd done to their youngest member?

He didn't deserve it.

Didn't deserve them.

But they were here anyways.

* * *

 _"so maybe you were a lighter and_  
 _maybe you lit me on_ _fire._  
 _the heat of your gaze was nothing_  
 _compared to the fire burning in your mouth_.  
 _every word scorched,_  
 _every sentence devastated.  
no survivors._

 _so maybe you were a lighter and_  
 _maybe i was once a firework._  
 _but you ran out of fluid_  
 _and i'm all burned out  
so what have we become now?"_


	6. Get Ready for the Desensitization

Skull knows numbly where he needs to go when he clears the doorway of the ally Reborn had swooped them down into but.. nothing really connects.

He knows this is really bad, knows that he needs to run now that the others somehow found out he's in the city, needs to change up his plans but-

' _Can't keep a Territory safe, can't be a Proper Cloud, can't even Harmonize with the strongest Sky in the world. Tell me, Skull. What exactly can you d-'_

Reborn was _right_.

Reborn was ( _always_ ) right, Skull couldn't do _anything_. The only thing he'd ever done correctly was dying and even that hadn't been permanent. Not really.

It didn't matter how hard he tried, nothing ever worked—

 **(Blank Space)**

Skull took to the rooftops quickly after clearing the end of the alleyway. He didn't want to look back to see what Reborn had decided to do but he couldn't help it. Something ( _you know exactly what it is you liar—)_ pulled his attention behind him while he climbed.

And there Lal Mirch was, standing in just the right spot where they could lock eyes before he disappeared over the edge of the rooftop, not even thirty feet apart. She stared at him with dark, unfathomable eyes. She'd always been an intimidating woman, always ready with a quick fist and an even quicker tongue. She hadn't ever done much to Skull personally, at least not like Reborn and Colonello had, but that hadn't been any better.

Lal hadn't ever had any problem ignoring him, looking and walking right passed him like he wasn't even there more times then he could count. She had a way, with those shrewd eyes, of making you feel as if you were the most insignificant thing to ever breath on the planet—

 **(Blank Space)**

They could catch him right this minute, Skull realized, staring back at her. They could catch him and drag him back straight into hell. They could force him just like they always had, corral him and beat him down until he finally broke entirely.

His hands ached with tremors that had nothing ( _everything_ ) to do with his fear as he held onto the concrete like it was his only connection to the world, his head hurt from all the emotions he'd been forced to confront with Reborn, and he realized, probably to late that Lal _wasn't_ going to tell the others he was close enough to grab when she turned her back to him pointedly to yell at them all. He couldn't hear the words from where he was, but after so long together Skull knew Lal's yells intimately. The one she was using right now? Was her, 'You Better Goddamn Listen To Me Before I Start Bashing Heads!' yell. Not her, 'Our Target Is Getting Away You Fuck Faces, Go Chase After It!' yell.

He almost lost his grip on the edge when a full body shudder that went through him at that realization. For whatever reason, whatever favor she owned him in her mind, he was getting a free pass this time. Skull had no idea what he'd done to get this gift from god but he wasn't going to test it.

He had a feeling he wouldn't get another one.

Skull pulled himself over the edge of the rooftop and he didn't look back again.

As he ran across apartment buildings and store fronts on light feet, Skull tried not to think. Tried not to feel anything more about what just happened. About his god awful luck to be caught, tonight of all nights. His legs hurt but that would fix itself the minute he stopped running, his lungs ached but they always did that from the scaring he couldn't seem to heal with his Cloud Flames. All transport, all things that would happen over and over and over again, something he could focus on that wasn't his own grief and _ohgodidiedidiedidiedidiedidied—_

His mind wasn't—

 **(Blank Space)**

—Skull didn't think he'd been running for that long but the safe house was coming up in the distance. Huh, it hadn't felt like he'd been running for over twenty minutes but seeing how Cloud Flames were definitely a cheat in the universes code it wasn't very surprising he'd made it there in record time.

Sliding on the concrete rooftop wasn't the most well thought out idea he'd ever had, seeing as it told everyone inside the building someone was on top of it when their feet busted through. But they were all waiting for him and this safe house would be emptied by tonight anyways so who really cared?

A flash of light colored _something_ registers to him seconds before feet collide with his side and he goes flying through the air. It happens so fast all Skull has time to think is, ' _shit!'_ before his heads impacting the ground for the first time and he's tossed ass over end like a yo-yo over a good fifty feet.

Now, normally, he'd sit and try to process what the fuck just happened, take stock on what hurts, if anything's broken horribly enough that he can't run away. But he has shit to do today and emotions to avoid so his normal routine is shot to hell. Unfortunately for the blonde blur that Skull's pretty sure he knows, all this means is a pissed off Cloud is the first thing Colonello sees when he drags Skull up by his shirt.

"What the fuck, kora! We've been looking for you everywhere!" Colonello yells right in his face. Skull's pissed off expression doesn't seem to phase the Rain since he starts to shake him back and forth furiously, to get across how much they've been looking for him.

Skulls expression flattens at his Rain's shaking and one of his hands goes straight into those ridiculous blonde locks to jerk Colonello's head back, while the other starts prying his fingers off one-by-one. All the way back. Slowly.

Dirty? Unfair? Please, if there's one thing he's learned after being forced into the Mafia for so long it's that if you fight fair your a dead man. He should know, he's _been_ that dead man.

With Colonello trapped for the moment he can't help but hiss in the man's face, "You'd think with the whole, me DODGING YOU ALL LIKE MY ASS IS ON FIRE THING, that I don't want to be found!" Colonello's hands scramble for purchase against his chest, and Skull takes sick pleasure in pulling his head back even farther until the poor man's almost doing a standing scorpion.

He still wants to scratch that look off his face.

"YOU DIED!"

"I KNOW!"

Colonello takes an aborted step back, caught off guard but unwilling to give away his aggressive advantage. He's got the most particular look on his face, Skull absolutely hates that he knows exactly what that _stupid_ face means.

That goddamn confused face. Those wide, stupid eyes. Like he has no idea why this is happening.

 _ **Skull can't fucking stand it**_.

"I _died_ and this is the first thing you do?" Skull bends Colonello back a little bit father, he can hear the pop of his spin. "Why do you THINK I wouldn't want to be with you all?"

"Skull-"

"You're horrible to me, to everyone! You're all so fucking convinced just because your at the top, the the best of the best, that you can do abso- _fucking_ -luty do whatever you want, whenever you want."

Colonello's hands stopped digging into Skulls wrists. He hung there, kept up only by Skull's strength. Ironically, Skull couldn't help but note, that this was only the second time in their entire relationship that Colonello's relied on him for anything.

Skull snared wobbly down at him, " But I paid my debt a thousand times over. I've done _**everything**_ I could to make you all my family." His eyes started to tear up but this was it, his one chance to hopefully make Colonello actually listen to him. "You wanted nothing to do with me. I died for you. Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Colonello hung limply in Skulls scarred hands. "You're one of us, Skull. Of course we care." Colonello's Rain Flames were reaching, begging him to understand, to listen to his Dying will.

But Skull couldn't do it. Not anymore. "I've never been one of you. You can lie to yourself all you want to, but don't you dare try to lie to me."

A voice interrupts the two Flame Actives confrontation abruptly. "We've moved the Accumulation, Skull-sama. We are ready for your arrival."

Skull lets go of Collenollos front. The Rain falls and doesn't get up, laying on the ground stricken. (At least that _lookisoffhisface-)_ "You don't actually think we'd do anything to them, just to get to you, Kora. Please don't tell me that's how far you've drifted away from us."

Skull steps forward to drag Colonello up into the air again. "I know you would." Skull can feel how sharply his smiles cuts Colonello, only because it cuts him just as deep.

"Skull, no." Colonello's protests weakly while hanging a good few feet off the ground. He's not even trying to fight back anymore.

Not that it matters now.

Skull slams Colonello into the ground as hard as he can without breaking Colonello permanently. The cement around him caves in, turning fast as a fox Skull tears us a nearby street light and digs the top part against the ground, shattering the lamp glass itself. With that done, and Colonello dazed from both how hard Skull had been able to slam him and the surprise that Skull _could_ slam him, the few seconds it took was long enough for Skull to both strengthen the metal in the street light, and do the same with the cement around Colonello's body.

He then threaded the long piece of metal in the small amount of space between Colonello's body and the top of the hole, effectively trapping the man inside until Skull's Flames wore off (not likely) of some type of help came (more likely)

With the last piece of the unusual metal thread in, Colonello snatched a hand out and held onto Skull's shirt desperately. "Skull! Skull, wait! No! God, fucking _fuck me,_ kora. Stop-! Just… just stop for a second and _listen to me_! " Colonello looked around frantically for any way out of the Cloud made prison, but it was useless. He was trapped. "I'm sorry, ok?! I'm sorry for what we did! I'm sorry you never felt like you were a part of us, but you are! I promise you, kora. You are!" His ocean blue eyes drilled up at Skull, intense and so _genuinely_ honest.

That was something Colonello had always been.

Honest in the face of all his emotions. It showed, starkly, how very different his origins were from all the other Arcobaleno, even Lal March who had adapted rabidly once forced into the depths of the Mafia. His straightforward care for Yuni, his camaraderie with Reborn, his love for Lal March, and… his contempt for Skull.

No, one thing Skull had never doubted was Colonello's honesty.

"That you can say that, straight to my face and act like you have no idea where any of this is coming from, shows me exactly how much you _think_ you know." Skull's face twisted into such nihilistic misery that Colonello looked like he'd been punched in the gut. "Nothing. You know absolutely _nothing_."

Skull jerked away from Colonello's hold and stood. Ignoring the Rain's increasingly alarmed yells, Skull moved quickly through the deserted streets. The Mist's Enma had loaned him to get the **(Blank Space)** away from their home had to be wearing thin keeping the other Arco distracted. It wouldn't surprise him in the least if Lal was already moving towards her Twin-Rain's position. Sometimes it was like those two, when they weren't being ( _aggressively Tsundere-like_ ) love-struck idiots, had some type of honing beacon on each other. Even when Verde had sworn up and down he'd never made anything of the like for either of them.

 _Colonello looking at him like he'd never get to see Skull again. Desperately searching for something Skull just couldn't give, not anymore, not after telling him to run, them both to run, not after watching Reborn scream, why do they only care no-_

 _NO_!

Skull stumbled to a stop against a wall to his right, phantom pain slamming into him. Even though he knew, he _knew_ it wasn't real, that it was all in his head. He could feel those Flame's, so much weaker then he was used to ( guess Reborn and Colonello's 'training' actually did have some benefit ) trying to tear at him, drag him just far enough away that they could chase what was _**His**_ but he wouldn't let them, no one was getting past him.

 _ **He would fuCKING DIE FIRST—!**_

 _No_ … no, he didn't want to think about them..

Skull whimpered, dropping to his knees he slammed his head down into them repeatedly. His breathing was coming in wheezy gasps and this was bad, so so bad, he couldn't have a panic attack here, not now. There was so much to do! He had to _go_ , had to find **(Blank Space)** again and _run,_ never stop running but he was so damn hot and he _didn't want to think about any of it!_

Didn't want to think of what Fon's face had to have looked like when he'd first heard, didn't want to think about Yuni's tears or her frantic tugging at his Flames when she'd tried to pull him back, didn't want to think of how Byakuran's forces had kept him alive just long enough for that Mad, so horrendously furious Sky to kill Skull himself.

Didn't want to think of Reborn's Flames reaching for him that day, the first and last time he'd ever felt such sweltering protection. Understood _finally_ why the others were so protective of each other, the sheer _warmth_ Reborn's Flames had the capacity to share.

 _It didn't matter._

 _ **None of it mattered.**_

Skull shuddered, hands clawing at the rough ground as he tried to calm his racing heart. It felt like if he didn't calm down, somehow, he was going to detach straight from his body and float away. He couldn't do that, not yet. Not while his **(Blank Space)** were still so fragile. _Later_. Later he could do whatever he wanted, once they were safe. And hey! Silver lining! He now knew for a fact he _could_ actually die. It just took a truly overwhelming amount of Sky Flames to finish him off.

The Carcassa Family owed him so many favors after all the shit they'd made him do over the years.

Crawling to his knees Skull took a shuddering, hiccuping breath before climbing fully to his feet. A shaking step forward drew the attention of the calculating looking Mist standing off to the side of him. Ignoring them Skull managed to drag bleeding fingertips against the rough wall as he forced himself to keep walking. Just to feel something other then the numbness or panic that had chased him endlessly since waking up in this time bereft of the strangled Bond that he'd shared with the others for over half a century.

 _It didn't matter._

And if the Carcassa decided they were too scared of Reborn to keep their honor like all Families should, well—

 **(Blank Space)**

The Kozato Family Mist backed away from the Cloud Arcobaleno quickly at the look on the preteens face. Word had spread rapidly from the Gesso Family that he was not to be trifled with. No one knew exactly what had happened to send _that_ Family into a tizzy, but with the other Arcobaleno chasing their Cloud and the fight that the Mist had just had to hide between the two Flame powerhouses...

Needless to say he understood why the Mafia as a whole was in a state of cautious wait-and-see while it all played out. Because if there was one thing all Flame users had in common despite what Flame they might be, it was a strong sense of Drama. And the look of the Cloud Arcobaleno right then, famed for being the weakest of the seven _screamed_ Tragedy. But for who, the Mist couldn't guess.

—-Skull was sure Byakuran wouldn't mind taking out the Cloud that killed both his Rain and Cloud Guardian's in the Future-That-Never-Was, no matter how 'reformed' the Mad Sky acted.

He'd make _sure_ the other didn't mind.

No matter what he had to do.

 _It didn't matter. Nothing did._

The most cunning mask  
doesn't alter appearance,  
but expectation.

—Red Leaf Haiku by John Clark Helzer


End file.
